EARLY DAY STORIES. 183 



the Tumbledumps. One of these hills was a big, deep blow- 

 out, the sand having been scooped out by the wind on the 

 northwestern side to a depth of twenty or more feet, and 

 in the bottom of the cavity thus formed, there was always 

 a pool of fresh, clear water, excepting only in a very dry 

 season. It was a good camping place, there being water, 

 shelter from the wind, afforded by the big hills, and plenty 

 of grass nearby for the horses. The only drawback was a 

 scarcity of fuel for the campfire. There was no timber nor 

 brush anywhere near, but there were the dead, dry roots of 

 the red root shrub that had been uncovered by the wind, 

 which made an excellent fire, but which were not plentiful 

 at this camp. The horses having been put out on picket 

 ropes, Dan busied himself fixing up the camp while I struck 

 out to gather up an armful of red roots for the fire. While 

 gathering the fuel, I noticed across the valley, a mile to the 

 northeast, a big herd of elk, feeding just at the edge of the 

 sand dunes beyond the valley. They were headed toward 

 the northwest — the wind coming from that direction. Elk 

 are always very cautious, and travel either into or across 

 the wind, and when they stop feeding to lie down, they 

 choose a place where the wind will bring the scent of dan- 

 ger from one direction, and where they can see an enemy 

 approaching from any other direction. When disturbed they 

 invariably run into the wind. We concluded it was too late 

 to go after them that evening. There was no danger that 

 the elk would get our scent and leave during the night un- 

 less the wind should change to the south, which was not 

 at all likely. We therefore felt pretty sure of getting an elk 

 or two next day, and that would have been the result, if I 

 had not become more interested in studying the elk, than 

 in shooting them. 



The next morning the elk were still in plain sight 

 across the valley, not having moved more than half a mile 

 during the night. We had an early breakfast and were 



